And XAT is How You Go About Last Minute Preparation!

If you’re spending your days alternating between preparing for the XAT and nervously biting your already-bitten nails, we feel you. The Xavier Aptitude test conducted by the XLRI is fast approaching—in fact, there’s less than a month left.

Are you going “I knew all that, do you just want me to panic?!”

Then hold on. This article is for you.

We’ve put together some of the best tips to help you through this last phase, the crucial last-minute preparation. Whether you’re just getting started on your prep or you’ve been at this for a dogged while, these tips should help you take your prep up a couple of notches.

1. Get Your Exam Strategy Together

This should be fairly obvious, but a lot of people miss out on doing their absolute best simply because they weren’t armed with the right strategy.

Before you enter your designated test venue at 10:00 AM on the 8th of January 2017, work on a comprehensive exam-taking strategy. This should be designed with your strengths in mind: try and devote a bit more time to the subjects you find a little harder.

With an effective ‘XAT-strat’ in place, you’ll find that time management is taken care of, and that you won’t have any trouble finishing by 1:30 PM.

2. Take Those Mock Tests

This could be said of any exam, really, but taking up mock tests is all the more important when an exam contains sections as diverse as the XAT’s.

Take mock tests as if they were the real thing (i.e.) don’t pick up that phone every time you hear a Facebook pop or a Whatsapp ping. Only with full dedication can you dig into the effectiveness of a mock test. And don’t just take a glance at your finished paper—evaluate it thoroughly, honestly, and an unbiased manner.

Done right, the mock test will show you just how close you are to admission into your MBA, PGDM or other management courses.

2. Give GK the Due Diligence It Deserves

Okay, so you read a couple of newspapers and subscribe to everything from The Guardian to Indian news organisations on your Facebook feed. But is all that enough?

In a nutshell, no.

Spend some dedicated time to actually study general knowledge. If the GK portion was a simple matter that could be ignored, it wouldn’t be on the XAT, would it?

3. Examfear Out of Your Head

From people tweeting things like “Who needs horror movies when there are exams?” to actual social media pages dedicated to exam fear, it’s easy to see a lot of us are fazed when having to face exams.

This gets worse when you’re looking at the XAT as your ticket to higher studies/career enhancement/marriage opportunities (We’re kidding about the last one, but *cough* look around you *cough*). Whatever your reason for taking up the XAT, you probably feel at least a little anxious.

But here’s the thing.

The XAT is tough for everyone, not just you. It’s all about the percentile, not the percentage. So relax, don’t let fear get in the way of consistent prep, and you’re good.

5. Embrace Your Short Notes

When you talk about last-minute revision, short notes are one of the best tools at your disposal.

There’s no substitute for notes that you prepare, put down in short form in a piece of paper, and carry with you for referral whenever you need it (not once the exam starts though—that’s a bad, bad idea).

Especially in that all-important last week, your short notes are your best friend.

With these tips spurring you on, dig your heels in and ignore all distractions. Stay focused on your prep, and once the exam starts, unleash your well-prepared XAT-strat. With some serious and smart, hard work, you should be on your way to the MBA promised land!